What have you done to your Miata today?

[chiefmg]

Small project for today. You may recall the new radio has power to the antenna constantly, so it is always in the raised position. Someone on Miata.net said he installed a switch to handle this so I decided to go that route. I found a SPST (single pole single throw) switch on Amazon, got 10 of them for $12 shipped. I was thinking about installing it in the radio surround but it didn't look like it would fit. I prepared everything to install it in the ashtray, but while I had things out I made some templates so I can replace the plastic side radio mounts with metal ones. With the surround in hand I took some measurements and was pleasantly surprised to find the switch would fit. A little work with a drill bit, a razor knife and a file and I ended up with this:

Works great, now I won't have the antenna up creating drag if I'm listening to a CD or using the BlueTooth.

 

[chiefmg]

Got her aligned today, used a place well-known locally called Performance Alignment. I just let the owner go with one of his standard Miata alignments (think he calls it a fun street spec). Car feels much better than it did, he said I was running with toe out in the rear which explained the light feeling I was getting. Have to wait for the rain to go away and things to dry before I really hammer on it.

 

[JamesCH]

What were the alignment specs? Out of curiosity...

Toe out in the rear isn't so much fun.

 

[chiefmg]

He didn't give me the old specs, new ones are about -1.2 degrees front camber, -1.0 degree rear camber. Front toe is 0.08, rear is 0.10-0.11.

Today's project was fabricating a spacer for the exhaust. Since I installed the Roadster Sport midpipe it has not sealed to the header (neither the stocker nor the Cobalt I have on there now). This is because the inner diameter of the pipe is too large to permit sealing of the stock donut gasket, and the flat gasket included with the midpipe doesn't have enough surface area to seal on the header. I picked up a piece of 1/4" thick flat stock from Ace, made a template off the stock midpipe and then using my angle grinder and drill bits cut it all out.

Installation of this will be tomorrow, I may have to hog out the inner diameter depending upon the size of the pipe protrusion past the donut gasket on the header. Should solve my problem though.

 

[chiefmg]

Went out this morning and test fitted the spacer, had to file out the middle some more to fit over the piece sticking out of the header due to its larger diameter than the stock piece. Then I looked for the CX-5 muffler donut gasket I had but without luck (I checked the stock muffler off that vehicle and found out the ID was the same as my spacer). Off to parts places I went, got one gasket from the local store but had to go to the dealer for the muffler gasket. Came home and worked on assembling it all (two gaskets, one spacer and the midpipe. I needed one more hand). Couldn't get it to mate up to my satisfaction, something made me compare the donut gasket with the midpipe. It mated perfectly to the flange, making me a very happy camper. Getting things aligned took some effort as the pipe sticking out of the header isn't that long once you get the donut gasket on it. Once I got that done I started her up and confirmed no leaks.

 

[chiefmg]

I feel like I'm monopolizing this place...

Going on a cruise with a local FB Miata group tomorrow, so cleaned her up today. Washed her up good (neighbors received another confirmation I am crazy, it was pretty cloudy while I was doing that). Pulled out the mats and shampooed them. Removed the headlights and put some denatured alcohol inside to try and remove the haze that formed after I painted the reflectors. Swished it around, drained the excess and let them dry. There is a noticeable improvement. Also scrubbed the boot cover, I try to do that occasionally so it doesn't get too scuzzy. Just waiting on things to all dry now so I can put her together and be ready for tomorrow.

 

[thejeans]

Oem timing wheel came in today, looks like I'm doing that tomorrow and hopefully she can be running in tip top shape in the next week or so!

 

[WillD]

I've been pretty much working everyday on getting the new Spec Miata ready for this coming weekend! I am about 95% with just random odds and ends remaining.

Major updates:

Cut a big hole in the floor along with removing the factory seat mounting locations:

Welded a new patch panel in that was made by East Street automotive:

Cleaned and painted the interior gloss black:

Installed all the safety equipment... Seats, harnesses, center net, roll bar padding, etc.

Very excited to finally drive this car.

In addition to all that stuff above I went over everything and made sure it was tight and not tweaked or anything really off. Replaced all the fluids (oil, diff, trans, turret, brake), updated the restrictor plate, replaced the air filter, flushed the radiator and replaced with water/water wetter, replaced a bunch of broken/cracked lights (front markers were both cracked, rear tail lights were cracked, bunch of the side markers were gone or broken), all new brakes (Carbotech XP10/XP8 combo with new NAPA blanks), and finally I put the hard top back on last night. She should be ready to go for Friday!

I also got the red Miata out, changed the oil, and put on the summer tires. I have a garage full of Miatas at the moment...

 

[CTt3P5]

^^^Maybe I can convince the wife into having our garage look like that one day. Great progress on the new car Will.

Since last Wednesday, I've started her up once and let her run for a few minutes. Tomorrow I'll stretch her legs and drive her to work but first I'll have my daughter back her out of the breezeway. Don't think I'll be able to squeeze into the car at the moment without being able to open the door all the way.

 

[WillD]

Thanks it was a lot of work. I've never wrenched so many days in a row before haha.

 

[thejeans]

Tore into the car to replaced the damaged Timing wheel. I have no doubts that this was the major cause for the misfire

new timing wheel is in and the misfire is substantially improved

 

[chiefmg]

Thanks it was a lot of work. I've never wrenched so many days in a row before haha.

That was a lot of work, looks great.

Tore into the car to replaced the damaged Timing wheel. I have no doubts that this was the major cause for the misfire
new timing wheel is in and the misfire is substantially improved

Don't you mean, misfire is gone? That was a messed up wheel for sure.

 

[thejeans]

Yes it's gone. Sorry I had a severe case of the Mondays and the brain didn't function properly when putting words together haha

 

[aMaff]

Chief beat me to it, was going to ask the same thing. Good to hear the miss is gone.

 

[chiefmg]

Chief beat me to it, was going to ask the same thing. Good to hear the miss is gone.

I was just wondering if he had an additional problem (like with that pesky Hydra).

Had a blast on the cruise, there were 37 cars which was a bit much but we only lost one car.

I have been thinking about what might be causing the gas smell under boost, and I have been getting an occasional stuttering hesitation while accelerating. I pulled the plugs and checked the gap, #1 cylinder was greater than 0.040" (last setting was 0.035"), all the rest were close to the last setting. I went ahead and gapped them all to 0.035, will see if anything changes next time I drive her. All the plugs showed a nice light gray color so at least my combustion is good.

 

[aMaff]

This engine and I, we are not getting along well. Removing the stud for the coolant manifold at the back of the head so I could move the reroute over, and got another stud stuck. I tried jam nuts and heat, and stripped the threads. I Welded on a nut. Using a ratchet on that snapped the shaft. I then welded on another nut to what was left of the stud, and tacked it on the back in a couple places as well, and out she came.

What a bastard. Third broken /James fastener so far. 1 exhaust stud, 1 EGR bolt, and this one.

I also picked up a replacement for the GoPro Hero2. Garmin wasn't stupid when they brought these out. They include an adapter that lets you use GoPro mounts w/ the Virb (it's on my GoPro roll cage mount here), so if you already have a lot of mounts, you're not starting 100% from scratch. The fact that the menus (they use ENGLISH!?) and controls seem to be made by people who understand how words work, and not Alien Robots who "totally understand how Hu-Mans do!" makes a big difference. These should make far fewer videos that start with someone looking at the camera to see if it's running, then pushing the record button to stop the video (there's SO many of those, I've made a couple myself).

 

[thejeans]

plastidipped the hardtop latches to see if i liked them black, plan will be to get them powdercoated matte black down the road.

started pulling all the emblems, I am bleaching the front and rear mazda logos and then painting them black. a few pics of during and after all the tape residue removal

After all that i decided to start cleaning and polishing the stock radiator cowl cause it was filthy. you can see the during and and after in these pics

 

[aMaff]

plastidipped the hardtop latches to see if i liked them black, plan will be to get them powdercoated matte black down the road.

They look good, but why not just leave 'em plastidipped?

 

[thejeans]

They look good, but why not just leave 'em plastidipped?

cause i can get them PC'd for cheap and i dont feel like having to bother with touching them up a bunch of times haha

 

[thejeans]

Painted the heat shield for the intake black, did some serious scrubbing/cleaning in the engine bay and sanded all the side markers smooth so that they look good with the tint film I'm going to put on them. With the car down while the headlights are getting blacked out I've killed time tinkering with little things the past few nights

2 days down on the bleaching, i think another day should have them ready to be prepped for paint